


Every Five Seconds

by AnnWillFightYou



Category: Original Work
Genre: Apocalypse, M/M, Post-Apocalypse, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:49:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24146917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnWillFightYou/pseuds/AnnWillFightYou
Summary: With illness eradicated, death was less common in The New World. It was until 8 years ago. there world is dying and they're running out of time to fix it. Join Ezri as he travels halfway across the world to try and stop what seems like an inevitable.tags will be updated as i write. no real update schedule, my first time publishing on AO3. no beta (though if you're interested, hit me up). content warnings before each chapter, if applicable. comments welcome.
Kudos: 2





	Every Five Seconds

8 years ago it started. 6 years ago she died. 3 years ago he kissed me. 2 years ago he said he loved me. 1 year ago i did. 3 days ago he asked me to marry him. Yesterday i said no. there was no reason to, not right now. Not until it ends. If it ends…

It’s been 8 years. It didn’t take long to notice, not at this rate. No one knew what was happening ; they still don’t. Isva thinks she’s figures it out, but…

8 years ago people started dying. Not getting injured, not getting killed, just dying. It happens anywhere and to anyone. Governments shut down. You’d think the world is ending. Maybe it is.

Mama died 6 years ago. Mama died and we started trying to figure it out. i have the ability to figure it out. I have the ability to do research. No one else does. No one else can.

Only one thing is still as it always was. The pill. The pill is still being produced as usual. There's only one factory left, but it still functions smooth as ever. That's good. we need it to. If it stopped even more people would die.

“Avis wants you to stop mopping and come inside before it rains” i don’t want to talk to him. I can’t talk to him yet.

Isva sit down on the stoop right next to me. She shouldn't sit on that side of it. The steps are uneven and the left side is a spider web of cracks and fissures. She shouldn’t sit on there, she’ll get splinters. Can you get cement splinters? If it’s possible, then she’ll have them. She closes her green eyes, then she opens them up very slowly. She’s about to say something. I know what Isva’s going to say. It’s going to be a big heartfelt speech, all emotional or some shit like that. I don’t want to hear it, i know that much. She’s going to tell me to talk to him. That i was too harsh, that i should apologize. She won’t cry, though, which is good. i never know how to deal with crying. Avis cries. Avis cries a lot actually. Its confusing as hell, but pretty cute. He cries when he’s mad, or when he’s sad, or when he’s happy. That one is the weirdest. Avis is the only person i ever met who cries when he’s happy. He even cries in his sleep. It’s not a pretty cry either, it gets loud and sobby, with fat tears and a runny nose. 

“Ezri...i want to talk to you about Avis. you, you were pretty mean to him. I think that you should talk to him” see, i called it. “He’s so brokenhearted he won’t stop crying and he barely speaks to me. He thinks you hate him! I really think that you should apologize. And honestly, it wouldn’t.../”

“I don’t want to hear it, Isva” I let her go a bit before cutting her off. “Have you found anything yet?”

“That’s not what i’m hear to talk about Ezri!”

“What you want to talk about doesn’t matter. You said earlier that you might have figured something out, have you?”

She takes a deep breath, and holds it for about 3 seconds before letting it out. “Yes. yes i have. But i’m going to tell you about it inside, with Avis, and you won’t ignore him. Got it?”

“And if he ignores me?”

“He won’t.” 

I know that he’s in there before i even enter the room. I can tell. I steel myself before i enter, i can’t show how much i miss him. I don’t want him to think that i don’t love him, i do. I love him more than almost anything, but if he knows how much this hurts me, it will be harder for us both.

I know where he is right when i walk in. i don’t need to look for him. Why would i, he’s in the big red chair that he always sits in. The only other seat is an old patio chair. The free chair is to close to him. I can’t sit there yet, so i stand in the back. Isva rolls her eyes with practiced expertise and lets a long suffering sigh escape. She sends me a pointed look, then nods to Avis. i don’t make eye contact with her, or with him. It doesn’t matter.

“So, what have you figured out? You said you had something?” Avis’ voice breaks through the wall of silence. He sounds the same. He sounds beautiful. 

Isva looks at the screen for a minute. A mask of worry covers her face “It’s random. I’m pretty sure it’s random. And it’s happening everywhere, not just here. I could be wrong, honestly i don’t know what i’m doing, you really shouldn’t listen to me. But, yes i figured it out. I think so, at least. It’s well… Yes, I..I figured/”

“Just get to it! What do you know!” she’s pissing me off, rambling like a lunatic. 

“5 seconds.” she blurts out, “the deaths are every 5 seconds. And random, it could be anyone!”

“Every 5 seconds? That’s not natural. It’s to even. Someone’s causing it, right? There must be  
Someone controlling it.”

“Sure, someone’s controlling it. So…? We don’t know who, or how, or why. Or Anything!” Avis stares at me when I answer him. It makes sense, i’v barely agnoledged him for three days, and i haven’t said a word to him for over 24 hours. 

“We have to stop it!” 

“We can try, sure. But how would we do that! It’s not like we have any idea what’s causing the deaths” i nearly yell.

“Wait” that's Isva. “i think we do have a lead actually”

Avis’ eyes light up, “what? Really? What is it?”

“The deaths are to ordered to have a natural cause, so we know its not a virus or something.”

“I don’t know.” i say, “it seems like a virus to me”

“No. that’s not how viruses work” isva seems certain, and i'm not about to question her.

apparently Avis is though.“And how the hell would you know any more about how viruses work than us, Isva.” 

“I read about it! And if it somehow is viral, then there is nothing we can do.”

As the two of them continue to argue, i think through the possibilities of what could be at the root of this epidemic. Isva’s right, this can’t be a sickness. Not because it too regular or anything, i don't know, but because sicknesses don’t happen. How can it be a virus when then don’t effect anyone. If it was a virus it would only effect people that haven’t had the pill, and i don’t know anyone that hasn't. Even children have had it because the company is still manufacturing...

“I know what it is.”

The pill must be at the root of this, or at the very least it’s connected. Everything has stopped; hospitals, farms, the government, everything. The pill factory is the only thing that is still operating. How could it be working? How is that possible? It is the only reasonable option. The only one available.

“Do you think its intentional or a malfunction” the silence that my epiphany caused is broken by Isva’s question.

“It’s definitely intentional, right?” Avis answers her. “If its a malfunction they’d stop production, and probably not even be operating”

“What do we do, though? That's the real question” Isva posits.

“What do you mean? We stop this, obviously!” i yell. What other option is there.

“How do we stop it? We don’t even know whats actually happening. The best we have is a baseless theory, a hunch. Besides even if we do manage to stop it, will that change anything?”

“What have we been doing all this for then? Just research for nothing? We need to do something! We can’t just let this continue till everyone is dead. We go to the factory and do what we can to stop these deaths.”

“And what if we all die before we get their?” Isva seethes.

“Then we fail! But we can’t just do nothing.” i pause and make a decision. “We leave the day after tomorrow. In the morning. Be ready.”

Isva stares at me for a minute. “You don’t tell me what to do” a pause. “I’ll think about it and tell you tomorrow” then she leaves.

Suddenly i’m alone with Avis for the first time in days. I leave as quickly as possible.


End file.
